How to Tell if You're Being Catfished | SafeWise (2024)

FAQs

How to Tell if You're Being Catfished | SafeWise? ›

How can you tell if someone is a catfisher? If someone will not meet up with you, either in person or via video or voice call, has a profile picture that rarely or never changes, asks you for money, or has very few friends or followers, they may be a catfisher.

How can you tell if someone is a catfisher? If someone will not meet up with you, either in person or via video or voice call, has a profile picture that rarely or never changes, asks you for money, or has very few friends or followers, they may be a catfisher.

If you've been talking to someone for a while online and they refuse to video chat or phone chat, they might be a catfish. They may give excuses for why they can't do it, like a broken camera or simply that they're shy. A catfish usually can't send you a candid selfie.

All you need to do is perform a reverse image search for catfish on their profile picture. This will show you if that picture has been used anywhere else on the internet. If it has, then there's a good chance that you're being catfished.

Ask the person to prove their identity by doing a video chat. If they won't, they may be a catfish. Use services like Skype, Facebook Messenger, Facetime, Whatsapp, and Kik. Most of these services will let you do a video chat for free online or via a cell phone.

Reviewing someone's posts and what they do online is important. Look at what they share and how they talk with others. Real people show many sides of themselves through their activities, over a long period. This helps check if they're being honest about who they are online.

What apps do Catfishers use? ›

Catfish will try and move the conversation onto a different platform, usually something like WhatsApp, Kik or email, for a few reasons. Scammers know that anti-scam technology software on the sites will likely pick up trends in conversation and shut down the profile. If they move you away, they can continue undetected.

For example, you can compare their name, date of birth, address, or email with public records, databases, or directories. You can also look for their online presence on other platforms, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, and see if their profile, activity, and network are consistent with their identity.

The person doesn't have too many friends or followers.

How to prove you're not being catfish? Google is your friend here. You can also look up people on search engines if your connection has profiles on other social networks. That way, you can easily verify if a person is who they say they are.